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Nights to Remember

Max’s Kansas City, the Cedar Tavern, Area, Mudd Club, Studio 54, Limelight, the Beatrice—New York’s dens of iniquity have long held an allure for the art crowd. And for "And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music," a group show at New York’s Friedman Benda gallery, artists have taken nightlife as their muse. Here, a few of them recollect those bygone nights that have inspired their work. The show opens Tuesday, July 16th, with, of course, a raucous party.

“I was a promoter until I was 27 or 28. I met most of my friends at my mom’s restaurant in SoHo. We would host jazz nights and poetry readings there. We felt like the town was ours. Everyone’s apartments are so small, the clubs become the meeting point. I went to places with my friends, and they would come places I was promoting. We would go out and that’s when I would see everyone. I used to be terrified of the day. I would sleep from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., then work, and then go out at 2 a.m. Afterwards, I would collect trash off the street for my art and come home and work some more. I love and hate New York. First we were New Yorkers; then we were artists.” —AGATHE SNOW